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Sky News
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
Mental health cases at A&E reach crisis level - as waits get longer and specialised beds dwindle
"We've got two," explains Emer Szczygiel, emergency department head of nursing at King George Hospital, as she walks inside a pastel coloured room. "If I had my time back again, we would probably have four, five, or six because these have helped us so much in the department with the really difficult patients." On one wall, there's floral wallpaper. It is scored through with a graffiti scrawl. The words must have been scratched out with fingernails. There are no other implements in here. Patients being held in this secure room would have been searched to make sure they are not carrying anything they can use to harm themselves - or others. There is a plastic bed secured to the wall. No bedding though, as this room is "ligature light", meaning nothing in here could be used for self harm. On the ceiling, there is CCTV that feeds into a control room on another part of the Ilford hospital's sprawling grounds. "So this is one of two rooms that when we were undergoing our works, we recognised, about three years ago, mental health was causing us more of an issue, so we've had two rooms purpose built," Emer says. "They're as compliant as we can get them with a mental health room - they're ligature light, as opposed to ligature free. They're under 24-hour CCTV surveillance." There are two doors, both heavily reinforced. One can be used by staff to make an emergency escape if they are under any threat. What is unusual about these rooms is that they are built right inside a busy accident and emergency department. The doors are just feet away from a nurse's station, where medical staff are trying to deal with acute ED (emergency department) attendances. The number of mental health patients in a crisis attending A&E has reached crisis levels. Some will be experiencing psychotic episodes and are potentially violent, presenting a threat to themselves, other patients, clinical staff and security teams deployed to de-escalate the situation. Like physically-ill patients, they require the most urgent care but are now facing some of the longest waits on record. On a fairly quiet Wednesday morning, the ED team is already managing five mental health patients. One, a diminutive South Asian woman, is screaming hysterically. She is clearly very agitated and becoming more distressed by the minute. Despite her size, she is surrounded by at least five security guards. She has been here for 12 hours and wants to leave, but can't as she's being held under the Mental Capacity Act. Her frustration boils over as she pushes against the chests of the security guards who encircle her. "We see about 150 to 200 patients a day through this emergency department, but we're getting on average about 15 to 20 mental health presentations to the department," Emer explains. "Some of these patients can be really difficult to manage and really complex." "If a patient's in crisis and wants to harm themselves, there's lots of things in this area that you can harm yourself with," the nurse adds. "It's trying to balance that risk and make sure every emergency department in the country is deemed a place of safety. But there is a lot of risk that comes with emergency departments, because they're not purposeful for mental health patients." In a small side room, Ajay Kumar and his wife are waiting patiently by their son's bedside. He's experienced psychotic episodes since starting university in 2018 and his father says he can become unpredictable and violent. Ajay says his son "is under a section three order - that means six months in hospital". "They sectioned him," he tells us. "He should be secure now, he shouldn't go out in public. Last night he ran away [from hospital] and walked all the way home. It took him four and a half hours to come home. "I mean, he got three and a half hours away. Even though he's totally mental, he still finds his way home and he was so tired and the police were looking for him." Now they are all back in hospital and could be waiting "for days", Ajay says. "I don't know how many. They're not telling us anything." Matthew Trainer, chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, is at pains to stress nobody is blaming the patients. "We've seen, particularly over the last few years, a real increase in the number of people in mental health crisis coming into A&E for support," he says. "And I don't know if this is because of the pandemic or wider economic pressures, but what we're seeing every day is more and more people coming here as their first port of call." The hospital boss adds: "If you get someone who's really distressed, someone who is perhaps experiencing psychosis etc, I'm seeing increasing numbers of complaints from other patients and their families about the environment they've had to wait in. "And they're not blaming the mental health patients for being here. "But what they're saying is being in a really busy accident & emergency with ambulances, with somebody highly distressed, and you're sat there with an elderly relative or a sick child or whatever - it's hard for everyone. "There's no blame in this. It's something we've got to work together to try to fix." New Freedom of Information data gathered by the Royal College of Nursing shows that over the last five years, more than 1.3 million people in a mental health crisis presented to A&E departments. That's expected to be a significant underestimate however, as only around a quarter of English trusts handed over data. For these patients, waits of 12 hours or more for a mental health bed have increased by more than 380%. Over the last decade, the number of overnight beds in mental health units declined by almost 3,700. That's around 17%. The Department for Health and Social Care told Sky News: "We know people with mental health issues are not always getting the support or care they deserve and incidents like this are unacceptable. "We are transforming mental health services - including investing £26m to support people in mental health crisis, hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down through our Plan for Change." Claire Murdoch, NHS England's national mental health director, also told Sky News: "While we know there is much more to do to deal with record demand including on waits, if a patient is deemed to need support in A&E, almost all emergency departments now have a psychiatric liaison team available 24/7 so people can get specialist mental health support alongside physical treatment. "The NHS is working with local authorities to ensure that mental health patients are given support to leave hospital as soon as they are ready, so that space can be freed up across hospitals including A&Es." Patients in a mental health crisis and attending hospital are stuck between two failing systems. A shortage of specialist beds means they are left untreated in a hospital not designed to help them. And they are failed by a social care network overwhelmed by demand and unable to provide the early intervention care needed.
The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Inside the crackdown on London's brazen Tube fare dodgers
In a desperate attempt to avoid the uniformed police guarding the exit to the tube station, a young man without a ticket sprints back down the platform steps. But before he can jump back onto the train, officers circle him and have him restrained against a wall within minutes. A search of his bag reveals he is carrying a lockable knife, and he is swiftly arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and put in handcuffs. The weapon is placed in an evidence bag, and he is marched through the station and into a waiting police car to be charged and remanded to appear at court the next day. The knife looks small, but officers insist it could do serious damage, and they stress they do not know the man's intentions for travelling with the weapon. It is just one example of more than 480 instances where people carrying a bladed article, such as a knife, have been stopped by British Transport Police (BTP) in the past year. The Independent witnessed several fare-dodging incidents while out on an operation with BTP from Stratford station in east London to Ilford on the Elizabeth line, as part of their crackdown on offenders. The latest figures show almost one in 20 Tube passengers are dodging fares – at a cost of £130m – amid a surge in violence against the staff who try to stop them. Ilford is one of many stations in the capital that has witnessed violence towards staff, with workers telling how they have been hit, spat at and subjected to racial abuse - all in the line of work. This particular station was chosen for the operation because in December 2024, a railway worker died after sustaining a serious head injury after being assaulted. Attacks on Transport for London (TfL) staff are not uncommon. More than 10,490 reports of work-related violence and aggression were made by TfL workers in 2023/24 - a 5 per cent increase on the previous year. About half of these incidents came after they approached fare evaders. 'Frontline staff deal with members of the public on a regular basis, and we know that they do face a disproportionate level on occasions of verbal abuse, and at its worst, that can escalate to physical violence,' Superintendent John Loveless from BTP tells The Independent. 'There's always a sense of fear or concern that you just don't know who you're dealing with, what they've got on their persons, whether that be a knife or something else, or just how they're going to behave and react to you,' he adds. The busy transport hub of Stratford - the fifth busiest station in the UK in 2023/24 - has a huge footfall and before officers even start their operation, they rush off to deal with drunk and disorderly passengers and several instances of anti-social behaviour. As we interview a worker, a group of teenagers are causing disruption by running around and vaping on the platform. When they refuse to cooperate with police, one is physically restrained, pinned to concrete floor of the platform and can be heard yelling as police speak to them. As we move onto the platform, a man guzzling a beer as he carries bag full of more alcohol is stopped for carrying an open container of alcohol - but he escapes a fine. Fare dodging is described as a 'gateway level offence' by officers on the operation, who say that while not all fare evaders are criminals, most criminals will avoid paying. Within 20 minutes of getting off the Elizabeth line train to Ilford, police stop the young man with a knife. Soon after another man approaching the barrier sees police and confesses he does not have his Oyster card with him. He is taken to one side, questioned and handed a £100 fine - the standard rate under TfL rules, which can be reduced if paid within 21 days. Another man who tries to exit the barrier is fined on the spot for using a child's travel card. A group of five women travelling with children in buggies attempt to circle back down the steps onto the platform when they realise police are lining the exit. Their suspicious behaviour is clocked by plain-clothed police officers who stop them for questions. The women, who spoke Romanian, could not speak English fluently, and a member of the station staff steps in to translate. It is soon revealed that they do not have any way to pay for their tickets and they are fined. During the operation, officers issue 47 penalty fares of £100 and conduct seven stop and searches – finding the lock knife and two people in possession of cannabis. Superintendent Loveless says: 'London does have its challenges in terms of weapon-enabled crime, but whilst there might still be that sense of fear and concern do be reassured that it's a really still safe way to travel.' 'We like to use the phrase that 'whilst you may not always see us, it doesn't mean that police are not always there. 'Talking to the knife carriers out there, the risk of you becoming a victim yourself if you are choosing to carry a knife is high. You put yourself and others at significant risk, and ultimately it can result in a life-changing injury or death.' More than 55,000 knife crime offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to September 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
East London restaurant fined £7k for fly-tipping food orders on street
An East London restaurant has been fined over £7,000 after dumping food orders and catering oils drums on the street outside. The restaurant, Watan, was identified by enforcement officers at Redbridge council as the perpetrator behind fly-tips discovered on Hampton Road, Ilford. Officers from the council were first alerted to the fly-tipped mess following complaints from local people. The waste included black bags of food waste, packaging, catering oil drums and food orders linked to the restaurant. The items were all reportedly left against a side wall of the restaurant, on the street outside. READ MORE: Former Hackney pub set to become Gail's almost a year after shutting suddenly READ MORE: Two in A&E after Romford station 'assault' The investigation led to restaurant owner Bismillah Ullah being given a criminal record as a result of the prosecution. The 36-year-old from Church Road in Hayes, Middlesex, attended a trial at Barkingside Magistrates Court on April 29, where he and the business were found guilty of fly-tipping charges. The company was fined as a result of the verdict and was ordered to pay the court and council costs totalling £7,150. The authority said: "The majority of local businesses help keep the neighbourhoods they serve tidy by disposing of their commercial waste properly, so when Redbridge enforcement officers were alerted to reports of commercial waste being left on the street, they wasted no time investigating." It added: "Not only was the rubbish creating an eyesore in the community, it was also likely to attract vermin to the local area." Labour Councillor Khayer Chowdhury, Redbridge Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said: "The failure to correctly store commercial waste presents a threat to the environment and public health, as well as being an eyesore for local communities. We all have a responsibility to ensure our streets and neighbourhoods are clean, and that includes businesses." He added: "Fly-tipping commercial waste on our streets is unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for those who treat our borough disrespectfully, and this prosecution is testament to our commitment to holding law breakers to account for their behaviour." Redbridge Council has said all fly-tips reported to the authority are recorded and investigated, with enforcement action being taken if evidence is found. The council aims to clear all recorded fly-tips on council land and the highway within 24 hours of it being reported. Individuals can submit evidence of fly-tips, perpetrators or their vehicles on the council's Report It page. The authority's Love Clean Streets app can also be used to report fly-tips, missed bin collections and potholes. Have a story you want to share? Email Don't miss out on the biggest local stories. Sign up to our MySouthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- The Independent
Breakthrough in India manhunt for suspect in 24-year-old woman's East London murder
A man wanted for the murder of his wife in east London has reportedly been spotted withdrawing a large sum of cash at a bank in India. Harshita Brella, 24, originally from Delhi, was found dead in a silver Vauxhall Corsa on Brisbane Road in Ilford on 14 November 2024. Her husband, Pankaj Lamba, 23, fled the UK for India soon after. After issuing a Look Out Circular to prevent Mr Lamba from leaving the country, the Delhi police declared him a proclaimed offender on 1 May for evading authorities. According to local media accounts, however, he had been sighted at a bank in Gurugram, a satellite city south of the national capital Delhi, on 4 March. Mr Lamba, wearing a face mask, withdrew Rs 430,000 (£3,760) from the bank where he was picked up by CCTV cameras, an unnamed police source told The Indian Express. 'CCTV footage from the bank showed he was alone. Before this he had withdrawn Rs 21,000 (£184) from another bank on the same day,' the source told the newspaper. 'But we don't have footage, so we can't confirm if he had gone himself or sent someone in his stead.' Brella was strangled in Corby on the evening of 10 November before her body was driven some 160km south to Ilford the next day, according to the UK police. The body reached her family home in Delhi's Palam area on 3 December and a police case against Mr Lamba was filed soon after. The case was registered on the basis of a complaint by Brella's parents alleging cruelty by her husband and breach of trust. Their daughter's was a 'dowry death', the parents alleged, implying she had been killed for not bringing enough dowry. Mr Lamba's parents were arrested on 14 March under India's "dowry death" law. While the mother was later released on bail, the father was still in jail as of 20 May. Mr Lamba married Brella in March 2024, in a match arranged by their families and flew to the UK soon after. Brella joined him a month later. In August, the Northamptonshire police filed a case of domestic abuse against Mr Lamba and he was arrested before being released on bail. In Delhi, the Palam police station's head told The Independent he was aware of the report about Mr Lamba being sighted in Gurugram but declined to comment further. The police earlier announced a reward of Rs 50,000 (£437) for information leading to Mr Lamba's arrest.
The Sun
15-05-2025
- The Sun
Neighbours locked in ‘ridiculous' 7-year war over garden HOSE on tiny strip of land between 2 homes
A £250,000 seven-year neighbours' row over a few inches of land sparked by a doctor's garden tap has been blasted as "ridiculous" by a top judge. Pensioner Christel Naish and her doctor neighbour Jyotibala Patel have been fighting a bitter court war over an inches-wide strip between their houses that is too narrow for someone to comfortably walk down. 3 Ms Naish complained that Dr Patel's garden tap and pipe were "trespassing" on her property in Ilford, east London, sparking an expensive legal battle. Last year, after a trial at Mayors and City County Court, Christel was left with more than £200,000 in lawers' bills for the case when the judge ruled in Jyotibala's favour. But Ms Naish, 81, is now fighting on, despite being told that the case could end up costing about £500,000 if she wins. After the trial, Christel had to pay around 65% of her neighbours' costs, totalling around £100,000 on top of the six-figure sum she ran up herself. However the appeal itself is costing more than £30,000, the High Court heard, and her lawyers say it could result in "another £200,000" being blown on a second trial if she succeeds. At the High Court, senior judge Sir Anthony Mann blasted the parties for the "ridiculous" row after hearing that the tap and pipe issue which began the dispute did not even matter any more, with the tap having now been removed by Dr Patel. Senior judge Mann said: "Hundreds of thousands of pounds about a tap and a pipe that doesn't matter - this brings litigation into disrepute." "You don't care about the pipe and the tap, so why does it matter, for goodness' sake, where the boundary lies? "It seems to me to be a ridiculous piece of litigation - on both sides, no doubt." The court heard Ms Naish first moved into her semi-detached house in Chadacre Avenue as a teenager with her parents and, although she moved out, frequently returned as she worked there in the family's tarmac business. Moment 'UK's worst neighbour' terrorises couple in 18-month tirade of foul-mouthed abuse caught on doorbell camera She eventually moved back permanently after the death of her father in 2001, with Dr Patel and husband Vasos Vassili buying the house next door for £450,000 in 2013. The couple's barrister, Paul Wilmshurst, told the judge that the dispute began due to Ms Naish repeatedly complaining that a tap and pipe outside their house trespassed on her land. Due to her " terrorising" them with her "petty and vindictive" complaints, they felt forced to sue due to the "blight" on the property's value caused by the unresolved row, he said. At the county court, they claimed the tiny gap between the houses - created when the previous owners of their home built an extension on a previously much wider gap in 1983 - was theirs. They insisted that the boundary between the two properties was the flank wall of Ms Naish's house and not the edge of her guttering hanging above, as she claimed. 3 But after hearing the trial in 2023, Judge Stephen Hellman last year found for Dr Patel and Mr Vassili, ruling that Ms Naish's flank wall was the boundary and meaning they own the gap between the houses. However, he found against them on Ms Naish's counterclaim, under which she sought damages for damp ingress into her conservatory caused by them having installed decking above the level of her damp proof course. The judge found that, although the damp problem was already in existence, the installation of the decking screed was a 20% contribution to it, and awarded Ms Naish £1,226 damages. However, because he had found against her on who owns the gap between the houses, he ordered that she pay 65 per cent of her neighbours' lawyers' bills, amounting to about £100,000, on top of her own costs. Concluding his judgment, he said: "Now that the parties have the benefit of a judgment on the various issues that have been troubling them, I hope that tensions will subside and that they will be able to live together as good neighbours." However, Ms Naish has continued to fight and took her case to the High Court for an appeal last week, with judge Sir Anthony Mann asking why the neighbours are pressing on and demanding of Ms Naish's barrister David Mayall: "What is the point of this litigation?" He replied: "To be frank, two things: costs and the damp issue," with Dr Patel's barrister Mr Wilmshurst adding that they feel they have to fight to protect the value of their home. "It's because for many years the appellant has been making allegations about the trespassing nature of the [tap and pipe], thereby making it impossible for them to sell their house," he said. For Ms Naish, Mr Mayall argued that Judge Hellman's reasoning in finding that the boundary was the flank wall was "fatally flawed" and should be overturned, although noting a second trial in the event of a successful appeal would cost the parties "another £200,000." He said any "reasonable purchaser" looking at the houses when they were first built and conveyed in the 1950s would have assumed that the boundary was the edge of Ms Naish's guttering, giving her a few inches extra land. "The only proper conclusion that he could have come to when construing the original conveyance was that the boundary ran along the outermost part of the house as constructed, including the eaves, guttering and foundations," he said. "He most certainly could not have concluded that a reasonable person would have understood that the boundary was in such a place as to mean that part of the dwelling as constructed - the eaves, guttering and foundations - were immediately trespassing on the neighbouring land." He added: "They insisted that's where the line lay. We said it certainly doesn't lie there and we have been ordered to pay £100,000 in costs for the proceedings below. "What we say is a reasonable purchaser would say, 'I own the land over which these gutters lie.' We say there was a fence running along, which was the distance away from the wall that the flank wall of [Dr Patel's extension] is now." But for Dr Patel, who appeared in court, and Mr Vassili, who watched via a video link, Mr Wilmshurst said the appeal was a challenge to findings the judge was entitled to make on the evidence. "Overall, the judge did not overlook the contention of the appellant as to guttering, eaves and foundations: he considered it directly, evaluated it, and rejected it as being material to where the boundary was," he said. "The judge correctly held that the legal boundary was shown by the conveyance plans as running along the flank wall of [Ms Naish's house], not the outermost projection. "The appellant does not suggest that there is rule of law that means that a boundary must be synonymous with the eaves, guttering or foundations. "As shown in this case, the court received expert evidence from an experienced land surveyor that such a state of affairs is not unusual. "This was a question of fact in this case for the judge to determine." On the issue of what contribution to Ms Naish's damp her neighbours' decking screed caused, he added: "There is no basis on which it can be properly said that the judge was wrong to find the concrete screed was only responsible for 20% of the damp problems. "The judge also carried out a site view and was in the best position to form an assessment of the evidence." After a day in court, Sir Anthony reserved judgment on the appeal.
